Mabel E. Green

COL. GREEN MARRIES; GIVES BRIDE $625,000; Son of Late Hetty Green Weds Miss E. Mabel Harlow, 47, a Friend of 15 Years. MARRIED FOR 'A REAL HOME' $50,000,000 Bridegroom Says Mrs. Green Is a "Truly Sensible Woman";-Cruise to Caribbean. Special to The New York Times. (); July 11, 1917,, Section , Page 8, Column , words [ DISPLAYING ABSTRACT ]

CHICAGO, Ill., July 10.-- "My favorite quotation is a remark I overheard on the street. A man saw me and said: 'Hell, is that Hetty Green's son?' Then I knew that I looked like a regular human being."--Colonel E.H.R. Green.

From Robert Siegel Auctions, Sale Number: 846 Sale Date: Saturday, May 18, 2002 - 2002 Rarities of the World

THE LEGENDARY "LOCKET COPY" OF THE INVERTED JENNY. PRESENTED AS A GIFT BY COLONEL EDWARD H. R. GREEN TO HIS WIFE, MABEL, SOON AFTER THE DISCOVERY AND ACQUISITION OF THE ONLY KNOWN SHEET OF PHILATELY'S MOST FAMOUS ERROR. OFFERED TO THE MARKET FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE ITS CREATION.

Presented here is the pendant containing a 24c Inverted Jenny, given by Colonel Edward H. R. Green to his wife, Mabel. The pendant is made of two round pieces of glass with a gold rim and clasp for a chain. Sandwiched between the glass is the Inverted Jenny back to back with a normal 24c stamp. The Inverted Jenny comes from Position 9 in the top row of the original pane of 100. It has a natural straight edge at top. The bottom corners were slightly creased when the stamp was placed in the locket.

The recipient of Colonel Green's largesse was his longtime companion, Mabel E. Harlow, who became Mrs. Green in 1916, only months after the death of Edward's mother, Hetty Green. Hetty Green is still remembered in unkind terms as the "Witch of Wall Street" and the "World's Greatest Miser". There is a Hetty Green Historical Society devoted to the story of her remarkable life. Hetty was descended from the Howland and Robinson families, whose fortunes were made in the 19th century New Bedford whaling industry. Hetty inherited millions of dollars as a young woman and devoted her life to shrewd investing and bare-knuckled negotiations. She became one of the wealthiest individuals in the world. Hetty also became infamous for her excessive frugality. It was Hetty's unwillingness to spend money on proper medical treatment that led to the amputation of her teen-age son Edward's left leg. He spent the rest of his life hobbling on a cork prosthetic leg.

When Hetty died ...Edward, freed from his mother's domination ... went on a massive spending spree. He was also free to marry Mabel Harlow, whom his mother had referred to as "Miss Harlot". Mabel and Edward met in Chicago 24 years earlier when she was practicing her trade as an exotic dancer and prostitute. She left the smitten Edward to marry another man. Some time later, Edward and Mabel reunited in Texas, and he hired the voluptuous redhead to be his "housekeeper" on a more permanent basis.

When the Colonel died in 1936, his estate became the focus of multi-state battle over death taxes. Four different states claimed that the Colonel was a resident, a problem created by Green lifetime effort to claim residence in Texas while living in other places. After four million words of testimony and 2,855 exhibits, the Supreme Court ultimately decided in favor of Massachusetts, which received $5,250,000 in taxes. The Colonel left his estate to his sister, Sylvia Wilks, who simply added the $30 million to her non-interest bearing checking account at Chase National. His stamp collection was dispersed in a series of 28 auctions over four years, comprising some 50,000 lots. Mabel filed a claim against the estate, despite the agreement she had signed before marriage, and it was quietly settled. Mabel kept her Inverted Jenny locket and left it to a trusted companion when she died in 1950.

Notes

"Green Grist". Time. May 3, 1937. Retrieved 2008-06-08.

"A surprise witness at the first session was tall, sharp-nosed, bespectacled Mrs. Harriet Sylvia Ann Howland Green Wilks, 66, whose right to her brother's fortune by terms of a will drawn nine years before his marriage has been challenged by Colonel Green's widow, redheaded Mabel E. Harlow Green, 66."